Rika's start in the beauty industry began with working for clients seeking wigs and hairpieces in order to address alopecia or hair loss due to chemotherapy. This experience still informs her approach and motivation while providing hair services. She loves hairdressing because she sees it as a way of helping others find the best accessories anyone can own; happiness, confidence and a feeling of comfort in their own skin.
In 2012 Rika began an apprenticeship at The Plum because of her interest in working only with eco-conscious products and minimizing exposure to toxins for the environment, her clients and herself. She quickly became a Junior Stylist, then Stylist and has been with The Plum ever since. Skills she brings to her hair services include an interest in learning what you as the client are seeking, patience to work towards doing the job right, an attention to detail, and a thirst for new knowledge and techniques with which to shoot for your hair dreams. She has a gentle, joyful and loving presence with clients and life, and is a lover of all things creative. Beyond the salon Rika's passions include time spent with family and friends, connecting with nature, textile arts and never stopping learning.
Kiki is originally from Philadelphia where she graduated from the distinguished Jean Madeline Aveda Institute. Her passion for organic beauty started while she was assisting at Philadelphia’s first organic salon. From there, Kiki spent 6 years at two salons becoming well-versed in over fourteen organic product/color lines and discovering her deep rooted passion and dedication to executing her skills with quality organic products.
Kiki joined The Plum team in San Francisco in 2015 after falling in love with the city on a trip to see friends. In 2016 life brought her back to the east coast, but she operated as a bi-coastal stylist with time in San Francisco every eight weeks as she built roots in an organic salon in New York City. In 2021, Kiki has returned to The Plum and is looking forward to being back full-time with her clients and finding new clients to build relationships with.
Kiki is a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. She provides a safe space for her clients to feel valued, supported, and heard. Her specialty is tailoring her skills to each individual client’s personal aesthetic to help foster their self love, self care, and self expression.
Noelle followed her dream of living on the West Coast and moved to San Francisco from Florida in 2013 with years of hairdressing under her belt. She is uplifted by a city that still carries a free-spirited vibe to it and she is intrigued by the people that are drawn to live here. She lives out by the ocean, surrounded by nature. Noelle believes this is a magical place that is filled with so much beauty.
Noelle's passion with hair is creating organic shapes and colors that is tailored to each person. She strives to create effortless, low maintenance hair that grows out seamlessly. She helps you find a style that you will be able to easily recreate at home. Noelle is inspired by the Victorian and Edwardian eras. She also takes inspiration from the 70s and 80s, and loves bohemian style. But she also appreciates and can execute strong bold shapes.
She is deeply inspired by nature and our interconnectedness to it. The effects sunlight and how its casts its golden rays is her favorite thing to mimic with hair color. Her specialty is balayage and hand painting techniques.
Noelle was trained with industry leaders like Bumble and Bumble, Vidal Sassoon, Nick Arrojo, and Pony Education. She is a razor cutting specialist who feels like that the razor allows her to create the most effortless and textured haircuts.
With years of working in conventional salon settings, Noelle was so conflicted with the toxic ways of salon practices. Always valuing her health and wellness, her lifestyle choices were not alined with the work she was doing in the world. Moving to San Francisco gave her the opportunities to learn the organic ways of hairdressing at several green salons. Committed to the health of her and her clients, she exclusively works with color and product lines that that carry clean ingredients and natural fragrances.
One of the aspects Noelle values most about hairdressing is the ability to connect with other humans on a daily basis. She feels that this day and age of technology where you have so little human interaction, being able to connect one on one with other humans is a privilege she takes seriously. Inspired by humans, she loves getting to know her clients and building lasting authentic relationships. "There is something so beautiful about getting to know someone and their hair, and be able to help guid them in reaching their hair visions. Knowing that your hair is a way to build your self esteem and great self care, it is an honor to work with people in this way and make a difference in their life".
On her personal time, Noelle spends her time finding balance in her life through living a holistic lifestyle. Healthy foods, herbs, body movement and yoga, meditation, music and dancing, and of course nature are some of her favorite things. She believes that the way treat your mind, body, and spirit, has a direct correlation to the outer version of yourself. Noelle is learning to incorporate these philosophies into the work she does with her clients.
Growing up in a small mountain town in Northern California, Jade's hair journey started with a desire to escape to the big city and pursue a career that embraced creativity. At 19 she moved to the heart of San Francisco and enrolled in the Cinta Aveda Institute of Cosmetology. While in school she became interested makeup and styling and was very inspired by editorial and print work. After graduating she became a freelance makeup artist, but quickly decided that hair was her true passion.
In 2015 she started a rigorous apprentice program at ones of SF's top salons. There she was trained in Bumble and Bumble razor-cutting techniques and refined her eye to create beautiful soft and customized haircuts and color for each individual client, using clean and organic products. She has also always been enamored with curly hair and was trained in dry cutting, curly styling, and color techniques from Deva Curl. Jade also has a passion for education and strongly believes in educating her clients about their hair and how to properly care for it using organic products, with minimal styling and effort. She believes that hair care should be simple and in working with your natural texture. She offers balayage and vivid hair-coloring services as well.
Being a lover of nature, she is passionate about hair as a way of healing, and the importance of using clean and natural products to limit our impact on the planet and our health. She is trained in several organic and ammonia-free color lines, and is always taking classes to improve her skills. She is also an Educator with Innersense Organic Beauty.
In her free time, Jade loves to spend time traveling or home in the mountains snowboarding in the winter and hanging out by a lake or river in the summer. She loves animals (especially dogs!) and has several hobbies including hula-hooping and crafting.
For Redd Alexander, design is her religion. Raised in Brooklyn, Redd trained her eye in NYC, from a 5th Avenue salon to the streets of the Lower East Side, educating nationally and traveling internationally since she was 16 years old. With a background in fashion, architecture and interior design, she approaches her work as a sculptor, considering silhouette, balance and overall texture with every cut. But more importantly, she tunes to the energy of each client and their individual styles to create unique and sophisticated looks that are both practical and transformative. Some clients have called her their “hair whisperer”.
Redd’s philosophy is that it doesn’t take a lot to make a big difference. She believes deeply that it is important to embrace what we already have and make it the best we can. With an exceptional understanding of hair, its texture, behaviors, and how it responds to different treatments, Redd intuitively grasps a client's needs and preferences and translates them into a hairstyle that enhances their features, matches their lifestyle, and expresses their personality.
With 20+ years in the industry, Redd was mentored under Mark Garrison in NYC and her experience ranges from NYC Fashion Week, to magazine covers, photo shoots and makeover shows. She knows everything from roller sets to razor cuts to cutting wigs for Alopecia and women in cancer remission. She is also a board certified cosmetologist with certifications in hair extensions and wig cutting. She holds a BA in fashion merchandising from FIT and degree in interior design from NYSID.
Redd loves taking hikes through a canopy of trees and the smell of the soil, vintage shopping, antiquing, and is a fanatic about plants. Her services extend beyond hair to lifestyle design- helping clients to organize, inspire and renew everything from their wardrobe to the design of their homes, creating balance, beauty and serenity.
Former owner of Firehorse Salon has just returned to the Bay Area. She brings her expertise with razor skills and her love of structure, texture and movement into all of her hair designs. Formerly trained with Bumble and Bumble, Toni & Guy and John Delaria. Currently and always inspired by Street Fashion, Vintage Vidal Sassoon and people who cut their own hair.
Her cross disciplinary and world wide pursuits continue to inform each other through Sculpture, Interior Design, Dance and Aguahara. Finding her muse in a variety of creative expressions, always transforming people, places and things.
Maeby and Mac are our greeters. Maeby has been with The Plum since 2017 and Mac since 2021. They are skilled in Therapeutic Customer Service and believe that snuggles are the way to a client's heart. Their down time includes napping, bones, and exploring.
Danica has created a fully holistic beauty environment within The Plum. She has curated every detail at The Plum carefully to invoke a sense of well-being and beauty. She works with Organic Colour Systems, free of ammonia and other harmful toxins, and helped develop InnerSense Organic Beauty Color Purity, the cleanest haircolor on the market. Danica chooses brands that meet high standards for organic ingredients and eco-consciousness, down to the packaging. The salon starts from the principle that beauty begins within; including what we eat and our hydration to what products we use on our skin, and how we treat the environment around us.
Bringing nearly 30 years of industry experience, Danica is an American Board Certified Haircolorist (2003) specializing in non-toxic color, cutting, and styling. She opened Atlanta's (2007) and San Francisco's (2009) first fully organic salons and from 2021-2023 had a holistic salon/spa in Sacramento. She has been featured on TBS's Movie and a Makeover, Good Day Sacramento, and Your California Life. The Plum has been featured in Allure and Lucky. The Plum won Best of San Francisco 2018 with San Francisco Magazine. She has also produced work at Intercoiffure.
Danica is a graduate of the Integrative Institute of Nutrition and incorporates health into her salon sessions. She also completed a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training in 2014. Her unique approach cultivates her clients' core beauty, starting from within and moving outward. Danica creates an individual experience for each person through her holistic approach to beauty. Working with her is inspiring because of her quest for joy, passion for creating beauty, and most importantly, for loving oneself.
When not at The Plum, Danica spends most of her time studying interior design and helping others create inspired spaces. She is now also available for design consultations.